A little boy sit at the dinner table filled with a lot of vegetables. He bowed his head in prayer and said, “Lord, I don’t like the look of it.... but thanks anyway and I’ll eat it if I must”. Like the little boy, many times we have to learn to accept and deal with the trials and problems of life. For several years my wife and I lived Northwest of Oklahoma City. Everyday there seemed to be a strong wind. I begin to understand the words in the musical, Oklahoma, - “Where the wind comes sweeping down the plain”. I thought after a while I would get used to the ever blowing wind, but never really did.

Many identify with the statement made by Eliphaz when he said, “For man is born for trouble, As sparks fly upward” (Job 5:7). No doubt tribulations of Job were manifold. Certainly trials like unto Job’s that come in rapid fashion can be difficult to handle. Yet with God’s help and spiritual values even hard roads can be completed with success. In a poem written by Ella Wilcox these words emphasize that even the winds that blow can provide direction.

One ship sails East,

And Another West,

By the self-same winds that blow,

‘Tis the set of the sails

And not the gales,

That tells the way we go.

When tribulations come let us use them to draw near to God, to seek His wisdom and direction. Let us learn from our experience so that we might be able to assist others who may suffer the same trial. May God bless us to learn the value of endurance and stay the course.

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Church News: Sunday Bible Study at 10am - The Gospel of John; Sunday Bible Classes at 10am - for all ages, cradle row through adult. Wednesday Bible Study at 7pm - I and II Thessalonians. ‘Friday Morning In The Word’ - a short devotional at 6:30, fellowship hall.